What is “mental health”?

By Clara Guo, MD MBA

Mental Health

According to the World Health Organization, “Mental health is a state of mental well-being that enables people to cope with the stresses of life, realize their abilities, learn well and work well, and contribute to their community.” According to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, “Mental health includes our emotional, psychological, and social well-being. It affects how we think, feel, and act, and helps determine how we handle stress, relate to others, and make choices.”

I believe that these definitions are intentionally broad – “mental health” remains elusive to define. What we know for sure is that it encompasses resiliency, growth, and our relationship with ourselves and to others. 

Mental health is often referred to as a “black box,” highlighting the complexity and uncertainty in understanding, diagnosing, and treating mental health conditions. Diagnosis is not an exact science. Treatment often involves medications and/or therapy, and treatment decisions are shaped by symptom clusters, such as “depressive symptoms,” “trauma symptoms,” and “anxiety”. 

As a clinician, I’ve realized that patients often struggle to describe how they’re feeling. It’s hard to answer the seemingly simple question of, “How are you?” – it requires a lot of insight and self-awareness. Much of our therapeutic work involves equipping patients with the language they need to understand themselves better and find their place in the world.

Lucid’s Domains of Mental Health

Because mental health is so hard to define, at Lucid, we’ve broken it down into 5 Domains: Mood, Cognition, Energy, Self, and Social. 

Mood: This includes how we’re feeling – our emotional state. It’s important to recognize and name feelings like sadness, irritability, anxiety, and grief. It’s equally important to name feelings like pride, happiness, hope – celebrating the positive can be just as powerful as, if not more powerful than, acknowledging the hard times. All of these – the highs and lows – are needed for diagnostic clarity.

Cognition: Cognition affects how we learn, perform tasks, and adapt to challenges. It includes our attention, productivity, and memory. Cognition shapes our ability to make decisions in all aspects of life – as students, employees, parents, and more. 

Energy: Energy levels, from the moment we wake up to the end of the day, significantly influence our mood, productivity, and overall well-being. It sucks to feel tired. Fatigue not only drains motivation, but also exacerbates stress. On the flip side, having good energy can improve resiliency. We can identify what factors contribute to high energy levels, so we can reinforce those habits and continue that trend.

Self: This defines our internal narrative and is an often overlooked component of mental health. Agency refers to our sense of control over our lives – how much control do we believe we have over what happens to us and how we respond? Agency works hand-in-hand with the nature of our self-talk – are our thoughts about ourselves negative or empowering? It’s often easier to heal when we believe in our own strength and resiliency.

Social: There is a loneliness epidemic. Feelings of loneliness and experiences of social isolation are risk factors for poor mental and physical health. In contrast, a sense of belonging, coupled with social support systems are protective factors. Understanding how we relate to our world is essential for our overall well-being.

Together, these domains provide a framework for understanding and improving mental health. Of course, mental health is influenced by – and influences in turn – many other factors beyond these 5 domains. These domains don’t operate in isolation – they affect one another, but not always equally. Because they are so interconnected, they’re often at the heart of many psychiatric illnesses, making them an important starting point for understanding ourselves and taking action. 

At Lucid, we’re excited to bring clarity to the black box of mental health by breaking down its complexity into a few knowable domains.